If the delegates currently attending the global climate conference in Mexico need any reminding of the magnitude of their task in the face of human stupidity and hubris, they do not have far to look. At another meeting of a distinguished international body, the decision has been made to hold the most needlessly energy-wasting sporting… Continue reading The Qatar World Cup is the global equivalent of leaving all the lights on
Read moreFor an Englishman interested in taking a side-step out of his regular life, there is no place quite like Australia. After all, a couple of centuries ago, the ancestors of today’s Australians took a side-step out of their regular lives (or, to be more accurate, were booted out of their irregular lives) and took the road… Continue reading Getting in touch with my inner Australian
Read moreThere was a time when I took a swaggering, what-the-hell atittude towards a writer’s responsibility to those close to him. Few authors speak up for decorousness or kindness, in fact, preferring to trot out the hoary old cliché, said by Czeslaw Milosz and quoted by Philip Roth, “When a writer is born into a family, the… Continue reading Prim? Moi? A radio debate about the writer as good (or bad) citizen
Read moreThe dog has gone slightly mad. Astonished every morning that her territory has been transformed into a sparkling white playground, she bounds through the snow, her nose acting as a snowplough. Normally rather ladylike when it comes to creature comforts, she ignores the cold, the wet, the fact that balls of ice hang from her… Continue reading It’s not just the landscape that snow changes, but a whole outlook on life
Read moreToday marks the end of a peculiar, but increasingly popular, annual event: national novel-writing month is almost over. Heads down, fingers pounding away at their keyboards, would-be writers here and in America will be racing for the finishing line, having almost completed a novel of some kind or other in 30 days. The words of… Continue reading Why writers are mugging each other
Read moreIt has been one of those moments when, as if we have suddenly been spooked by the chilly uncertainties of today and tomorrow, there has been a general scurrying back to the warmth and safety of yesterday. The newspapers have earnestly discussed weddings, public schools, frocks and class. Broadcasters of the old-codger school have bemoaned… Continue reading Sometimes you can be too dignified
Read moreThe great 5 x 15 Stories asked me to write a Christmas song for them. I’m not sure this is quite what they were expecting. Christmas in Bed by TerenceBlacker And here’s its launch, with two other songs, when I appeared at the 5 x 15 event at the Tabernacle, Notting Hills Gate on 15th… Continue reading Song of the week (Yuletide Special): Christmas in Bed
Read moreIt was a long and often rough road which led to a special meeting of the South Norfolk Planning Committee on Wednesday 8th December to decide whether three wind turbines should be erected on the land between the villages of Dickleburgh, Rushall, Pulham St Mary and Pulham Market. Three and a half years ago, an… Continue reading Renewable hope: 10 lessons after a planning committee considers wind turbines
Read moreLike the hula-hoop, skateboarding and computer games, sexting is one of those teenage fads which has spread unexpectedly into the adult world. There was a time when talking dirty by text – or, more challengingly, within the 140-character form of Twitter – appealed mostly to those not getting the real thing. Now, increasingly, the grown-ups… Continue reading Modern love is just lust in the ether
Read moreOnce when I played this song, a woman in the audience advised me to seek psychiatric help. Derek Hewitson is on lead guitar. D’You Remember the Evening? by TerenceBlacker
Read more
